OVERVIEW

Newly minted turbocharged six-cylinder Carrera S with a little more power and a little less melody

PROS

If you have to turbocharge a sports car engine, leave it to Porsche

CONS

Still doesn't sound as mellifluous as the old naturally aspirated version

VALUE FOR MONEY

Porsche isn't the most profitable car company in the business because it offers value

WHAT TO CHANGE?

Other than a return to previous fuel economy rating systems so that we could have kept the naturally-aspirated six, not much

HOW TO SPEC IT?

Considering the price of Porsche options, I’d tell you to get the base model, but then you’d miss the 14-way adjustable seats and have to make do with a really crappy audio system. And, seriously, $3,660 for a transmission, even if it is a slick-shifting PDK? See Value for Money above

Among the many accomplishments — and there truly have been many — that Porsche AG can boast, none should be more lauded than the finesse they have brought to what is, after all, a back-asswards design. For, let us make no mistake about this, if you were designing a sports car, especially one that would eventually end up trying to circumnavigate the most treacherous racetracks at great rates of speed, the last layout you’d ponder would be one in which the motor is in the rear, hanging somewhere over the rear axle.

The design’s crimes are manifold. For one thing, the weight distribution is all wrong, there being way too much avoirdupois burdening the rear tires and not nearly enough the fronts. And then there’s something called the polar moment of inertia, a distinctly complicated engineering term that basically means that when something is difficult to spin, the troublesome corollary is that once said spin has started, it can be disastrously difficult to stop.

Of course, owners of the Porsche 911, especially early generations of the fearsome Turbo, already know this. Many are the rear quarter panels crumpled by a 911 owner suddenly realizing that Ferdinand Porsche’s romantic notion of weight distribution could foster some hefty repair bills.

What’s most amazing about the modern 911 is how completely such wayward behaviour has been eradicated from its persona. Indeed, the one overwhelming sensation one is left with after driving a 2017 Porsche 911 Carrera S — in my case, a Cab — is, as I mentioned, finesse. Everything — from the newly turbocharged range of six-cylinder engines to the sheer delicacy of its steering — is more refined than any four-wheeler that can remotely claim to be super. So polished is a modern Porsche that, save for its blinding acceleration and stomach-churning cornering forces, a 2017 Carrera S could have been manufactured by Lexus and no one would be the wiser.

2017 Porsche 911 Carrera S CabrioletChris Balcerak /
Driving

That refinement, if you’ve ever bothered to read Porsche forums, has raised a few hackles. A Porsche should be at least a little brutal, goes the common refrain. All this sophistication smacks of rampant corporatism say the purists, as if Porsche should deliberately engineer in some frailties so that its owners — or, at least, that portion of them with small pee-pees — could find their missing id behind the wheel.

That said, Porsche does face a challenge in making its new range of turbocharged engines as involving as the previous, normally-aspirated sixes. Like almost every other automaker reacting to ever tightening fuel economy and emissions regulations, Porsche has downsized the S’s Boxer six from 3.8 litres to 3.0, and then added two turbochargers to compensate.

A quick look at the spec chart would seem to indicate a win-win situation. Maximum horsepower is up 20 — 420 horsepower for the new turbo’ed 3.0L versus 400 flat for the outgoing naturally-aspirated 3.8L — as is maximum torque at 368 lb.-ft. And, thanks to those twin turbochargers, all that torque arrives at 1,700 rpm, the owner of a 2015 911, in contrast, having to wait until 5,600 for its maximum grunt.

2017 Porsche 911 Carrera S CabrioletChris Balcerak /
Driving

Indeed, the first impression of the new Carrera S is of a huge swell of low-end torque as soon as you touch the throttle, no more waiting — thousand one, thousand two — for the crank to spin up to four grand before the acceleration matches the snarl. Instead, as soon as you touch the throttle, there’s a great swell of torque as two turbochargers force-feed the new, shorter stroke version of Porsche’s classic Boxer six.

Nor is there any of the lumpy throttle response common to lesser turbocharged engines, Porsche’s long history of turbocharging allowing it to (sort of) replicate the linear throttle response of a naturally aspirated engine. If you must turbocharge an engine, leaving it to the masters at Porsche is a good idea. Purists looking to castigate the new engine simply on its performance are going to have to dance around the reality that the new turbocharged sixes are pretty darn good engines.

That said, the noise emanating from the four tailpipes isn’t quite as symphonic as before. Porsche has all manner of tricks up its sleeve — resonators, attenuators, etc. — but there’s no way to make any engine with a turbocharger or two stuffed up its exhaust pipe rip and snort like a big, high-revving six. Porsche’s sound engineers did a masterful job of choreographing the new engine’s six pistons and twin turbochargers for maximum melody and there are times — like when you’re hard on the gas at four grand — that the difference isn’t glaringly obvious. If not quite ripping silk, then at least some high thread count cotton is being torn asunder.

2017 Porsche 911 Carrera S CabrioletChris Balcerak /
Driving

Nonetheless, it’s always apparent that you’re now dealing with the Stone Temple Pilots and not the Rolling Stones. Oh, Porsche designs in a little rorty blat when you fire up the little beast. And, like I said, there are times when it sounds like the real deal. But just when you are expecting the big crescendo when the rev counter passes 5,500 rpm, the whole thing falls a little flat. Indeed, the whole party is over by 6,500 rpm, 1,000 short of redline. Think Bohemian Rhapsody without the Scaramouche, Galileo, Bismillah operatic interlude: It’s still a great song, but Wayne and friends aren’t beating their heads against the dashboard of a Gremlin for what’s left.

The rest of the car is virtually the same, Porsche’s internal 991.2 designation reflecting the modest changes. Oh, there are the standard Porsche front and rear fascia tweaks with new head- and taillights as well as bumpers and the handling is even more precise thanks to a GT3-inspired rear-wheel steering system. Nonetheless, plug in all the standard superlatives — incredible sophistication, precise steering and Lexus-like (for a supercar) dependability — as well as the traditional vices — pricey entry point, even more ridiculous option list — and the new(ish) 911 is pretty much the same as the old, save for the aforementioned engine.

The navigation system is intuitive, the seats comfortable and the ride — unlike, say, the Ferrari California which is supposed to be equally “accessible” — comfy cozy. Between the front trunk and rear “seats” — no human ever really travels back there — there’s adequate cargo carrying space. And, a Porsche is the one super-ish coupe that you could, without checking in with your mechanic, take off on a two-week adventure with some expectation of returning without the aid of a tow truck.

2017 Porsche 911 Carrera S CabrioletChris Balcerak /
Driving

So, the bottom line in all of this is: a) whether exhaust music matters all that much to you, and b) if it does, does it matter enough for you to switch to a brand with less of the aforementioned qualities? And, oh by the way, the alternative (I’m thinking Ferrari here) is probably turbocharging all its engines as well. I, too, wish that turbocharging wasn’t the expedient solution that (almost) all super car manufacturers see as their regulatory salvation. But, complain all you want that the 911 is becoming too civilized, the fact is if you’re shopping for a sophisticated supercar, especially one boasting Teutonic dependability, you don’t really have much choice.

And here’s one more little tidbit that might make purists more amenable to progress. The newly-turbocharged 420-horse 2017 Carrera S is but four horsepower shy of the last air-cooled 911 Turbo Porsche purists so venerate yet consumes just 9.7 litres of high test per 100 kilometres. That’s 29 miles per gallon in a car that can accelerate to 100 km/h in just 4.1 seconds. Pause for thought, non?